Page 71 of Burning Your Lies

She’s looking at me as if she can’t recognise me. Hurt riddles her body, but it cannot compare to the betrayal I feel. “You have to believe me.”

“Why did you quit as his PA? Why did you bring Scottie forward without telling me?”

“Because he’s planning something and we couldn’t risk—”

“We?” I scoff. “Youmade that decision without talking to me first. And I want to know why. What, Savannah? Did he nolonger want you and this is you lashing out? Are you trying to hurt him because he broke your heart again?”

“Yes! I want to hurt him! I want him dead!” She looks up and lets out a long cry. “How could you think I would…” She looks at me again. “You know exactly what it was between me and him.”

I shake my head. “No, I don’t.”

She’s clinging to my t-shirt. “I wanted you, Hux. I asked you for more.”

“And then you fucked him an hour later!”

“That’s not what happened! It wasn’t as simple as that.”

“How would I know?”

Something in her changes. She stops pleading with me. She puts distance between us as she shakes her head. “I wanted to tell you the whole truth. It wasyouwho said it was all in the past. I guess you lied.”

I crack my fingers. “Okay, then tell me the truth.”

She wasn’t expecting that, so she scrambles to find her voice. “What do you want to know?”

“How good was it?”

“Hux…”

“Go on,” I push. “Tell me, how good was it? Did you enjoy it? I mean, you must have because you kept going back to the man despite him being married. Where did you fuck him? Did the mistress get a bed or was she fucked like a dirty secret in the car? Who instigated it? How many times did he come inside you? Did you fuck him raw? Did you swallow it and then kiss me? How many times did you fuck the two of us on the same day? How many times have you thought about him when I was buried inside you? How many times do you still wish it was him?”

“I never wish it was him. You have to believe me, Hux. It’s only you. I love you.” Her voice cracks on those last three words and it crumbles my resolve.

“But it’s not. You’re obsessed. It’s all you can think about. It’s all you can talk to me about. It’s consumed you.” Unwilling to engage in this conversation, I stalk out of the bedroom.

Savannah runs after me. “Where are you going?”

“I’ll be sleeping in the other bedroom from now on.”

“Hux!” She blocks the doorway to the second bedroom. “You, of all people, should understand! He took you from me. He tookeverythingfrom me. He left me as his prisoner!”

I can’t stop the first tear. I gaze at Savannah, mourning the woman she used to be. Xavier has stolen all the parts of her I love; the woman I want a future with. This person standing before me is just a faint echo of who he is.

“You can’t even see what’s right in front of you. You’re still his prisoner. He’s still got a hold on you. But this time it’s worse because youknowwhat he is, yet you still chase after him.”

“Please don’t do this. Please don’t leave me. You promised to help me slay the dragon,” she begs.

“And you promised me a marriage. I told you that this marriage is real to me. But it’s clear it was just a move to protect the queen. You’re lying to me. You’re keeping secrets from me. You can’t even make it home for dinner. I wasn’t asking for much, Savannah. I wanted you to love me just half as much as I love you.”

“I do,” she cries “I love you.”

“I don’t believe you. You’re so wrapped up in his lies that you’ve weaved a web of your own.”

“Nothing about us was a game,” she says as I push past her into the bedroom.

“You said it yourself. This is your game. This is your table. But I’m folding, Savannah. The queen can reign on her own.”

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